Return emails

"Jim writes back instantly to just about anyone. I think the key is to even be able to write back and say “Thanks!” just to acknowledge that you read what the person has to say and that you realize he exists."

Financial Media = Entertainment

"If you have a TV show where you wear costumes, yell at the screen, throw chairs, and interview guests often in the hope for some laughs then I don’t think anyone would call that anything other than entertainment."

Ignore The Haters

"[After the Jon Stewart interview,] I IMed him at 3am the next morning and he just wrote back, 'who cares.' That might’ve been the last time I IMed with him."

Commentary Belongs in Financial Journalism

CNBC

"Who better to write about a company than someone who has serious resources and used those resources to dig under every rock and uncover as much as they can before putting hard-earned money to work."

Know Everything

CNBC

"...whatever field I’ve been in I’ve always tried to know everything about the competition, the technology, the subtleties and the nuances of the field. Jim has dominated financial media for 20 years by doing this."

Use Every Moment

"He wants to be better than everyone else in his business and to not relax for 100 hours a week while everyone passes him by."

Improve Every Day

"For people who don’t believe me watch these videos:

His 1997 video on PBS

His initial Mad Money videos versus his shows now

His first day on MSNBC after Don Imus left and Jim took over the spot for the week versus his third day on the show."

Magic Tricks

"He always has a way out when he doesn’t know something and it’s a useful technique combined with the database of knowledge he has to fall back on."

Self-promotion

"One time CNBC was trying to get me on the show 'On the Money'. I wasn’t returning their calls for weeks.

Finally, Jim comes up to me and says, 'James, you’re embarrassing me. Why aren’t you even returning their calls.' I mumbled a bit and he said, 'listen, you have to promote yourself. Nobody else is going to do it for you.'"

Bleeding

"Watching Jim on 'Mad Money' is sometimes like watching an impending train wreck. Jim’s a little crazy, a little off the deep end, but it’s either the kind of crazy we all see a little of in ourselves, or the kind of crazy we all wish we had."